7 ms·

Just to shill for bee friendly lawns: I have a creeping thyme lawn that I would recommend entirely. It attracts tons of bees, butterflies, doesn’t need mowing b

Just to shill for bee friendly lawns: I have a creeping thyme lawn that I would recommend entirely. It attracts tons of bees, butterflies, doesn’t need mowing but once a year (to clean up the spent flowers which are lovely in the summer), is drought tolerant (I water once every 2 weeks), and is evergreen to boot!

asdkhadsj 7y ago
Whoa, now I want to do this. It sounds amazing! How many varieties can be used in this manner?
- ataturk 7y ago
  Not really a fan. I have seen a few great examples, but most people just seem to think that it means they can stop mowing their lawn and let the property look abandoned.
- olliewagner 7y ago
  Tons. https://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/Thyme.htm https://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/Thyme.htm I have Pink Chintz, but if I had to do it again I'd probably go with Pink Lemonade (grows faster) mixed with Caraway (culinary)
core-questions 7y ago
Would you mind posting a picture? My lawn is this delightful combination of grasses and local weeds that is simultaneously uncomfortable to walk on, and also tremendously unaesthetic no matter what I seem to do. Wouldn't mind power-raking it up and putting down something better one of these years, but don't want to just do something conventional if there's a truly better option.
- olliewagner 7y ago
  No problem! https://imgur.com/a/ejSaUen https://imgur.com/a/ejSaUen
  - noob_slayer 7y ago
    creepy
    - dang 7y ago
      We've banned this account for posting unsubstantive comments and ignoring our request to stop. Continuing like this will get your main account banned as well, so please don't. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - core-questions 7y ago
    Very cool. So how did you make this happen? Nuke the lawn, fresh soil, and seeds?
    - olliewagner 7y ago
      I didn’t have to amend the soil. Thyme actually does well in poor soil conditions! As for planting you’ll have to buy plugs if you want consistency. These varieties if grown from seed won’t necessarily be true to form.
Alex3917 7y ago
What does the climate need to be like for this to work? I've seen it done very nicely in the Adirondacks, but I haven't seen it within NYC.
- EdwardMSmith 7y ago
  Zone 5 from what I can find. Would not survive in MN.
  - jcl 7y ago
    It's a little surprising that the article itself calls out creeping thyme as one of the bee-friendly candidate plants for MN, then, as does the article it ultimately sources from: https://www.startribune.com/program-pays-minnesota-homeowners-to-let-their-lawn-go-to-the-bees/510593382/?refresh=true https://www.startribune.com/program-pays-minnesota-homeowner... Perhaps there is a hardier variety? Or maybe they're expecting people to just plant fresh each spring?
    - vitaflo 7y ago
      Live in MN and have creeping thyme in our yard (was planted in our perennial garden and creeped). It grows very well here.
    - beat 7y ago
      Creeping thyme works fine in the Twin Cities metro, at least. It grows very well in our yard, and it's all over our neighborhood. We also have a big bunch of yarrow planted in our hellstrip. It grows great in those tough conditions. We don't even water it, and it's always full of bees and other bugs.
      - azertykeys 7y ago
        Can confirm - TC metro area is great for our thyme. It's certainly crept and spread :)
pcdoodle 7y ago
That pic is awesome, did you plant from seed?
- olliewagner 7y ago
  No, these were all planted as plugs. Each variety of thyme must be propagated via cutting as the traits of that variety are not guaranteed if grown from seed.
el_benhameen 7y ago
This sounds great! What sort of climate are you in? And may I ask if you (or anyone else here who has done this) has kids? I would love to replace or supplement my lawn with clover or thyme, but I’m a little concerned that I’d be asking for my kids’ feet to get stung.
- olliewagner 7y ago
  I'm in Albuquerque (zone 7). I'm not sure this is a great kid lawn because while it will hold up to foot traffic, it might get kind of torn up if kids are running around on it a lot.

asdkhadsj 7y ago

Whoa, now I want to do this. It sounds amazing! How many varieties can be used in this manner?

ataturk 7y ago
Not really a fan. I have seen a few great examples, but most people just seem to think that it means they can stop mowing their lawn and let the property look abandoned.
olliewagner 7y ago
Tons. https://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/Thyme.htm https://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/Thyme.htm I have Pink Chintz, but if I had to do it again I'd probably go with Pink Lemonade (grows faster) mixed with Caraway (culinary)

core-questions 7y ago

Would you mind posting a picture? My lawn is this delightful combination of grasses and local weeds that is simultaneously uncomfortable to walk on, and also tremendously unaesthetic no matter what I seem to do. Wouldn't mind power-raking it up and putting down something better one of these years, but don't want to just do something conventional if there's a truly better option.

olliewagner 7y ago
No problem! https://imgur.com/a/ejSaUen https://imgur.com/a/ejSaUen
- noob_slayer 7y ago
  creepy
  - dang 7y ago
    We've banned this account for posting unsubstantive comments and ignoring our request to stop. Continuing like this will get your main account banned as well, so please don't. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- core-questions 7y ago
  Very cool. So how did you make this happen? Nuke the lawn, fresh soil, and seeds?
  - olliewagner 7y ago
    I didn’t have to amend the soil. Thyme actually does well in poor soil conditions! As for planting you’ll have to buy plugs if you want consistency. These varieties if grown from seed won’t necessarily be true to form.

Alex3917 7y ago

What does the climate need to be like for this to work? I've seen it done very nicely in the Adirondacks, but I haven't seen it within NYC.

EdwardMSmith 7y ago
Zone 5 from what I can find. Would not survive in MN.
- jcl 7y ago
  It's a little surprising that the article itself calls out creeping thyme as one of the bee-friendly candidate plants for MN, then, as does the article it ultimately sources from: https://www.startribune.com/program-pays-minnesota-homeowners-to-let-their-lawn-go-to-the-bees/510593382/?refresh=true https://www.startribune.com/program-pays-minnesota-homeowner... Perhaps there is a hardier variety? Or maybe they're expecting people to just plant fresh each spring?
  - vitaflo 7y ago
    Live in MN and have creeping thyme in our yard (was planted in our perennial garden and creeped). It grows very well here.
  - beat 7y ago
    Creeping thyme works fine in the Twin Cities metro, at least. It grows very well in our yard, and it's all over our neighborhood. We also have a big bunch of yarrow planted in our hellstrip. It grows great in those tough conditions. We don't even water it, and it's always full of bees and other bugs.
    - azertykeys 7y ago
      Can confirm - TC metro area is great for our thyme. It's certainly crept and spread :)

pcdoodle 7y ago

That pic is awesome, did you plant from seed?

olliewagner 7y ago
No, these were all planted as plugs. Each variety of thyme must be propagated via cutting as the traits of that variety are not guaranteed if grown from seed.

el_benhameen 7y ago

This sounds great! What sort of climate are you in? And may I ask if you (or anyone else here who has done this) has kids? I would love to replace or supplement my lawn with clover or thyme, but I’m a little concerned that I’d be asking for my kids’ feet to get stung.

olliewagner 7y ago
I'm in Albuquerque (zone 7). I'm not sure this is a great kid lawn because while it will hold up to foot traffic, it might get kind of torn up if kids are running around on it a lot.